The heroic Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan during the rescue of an American doctor kidnapped by the Taliban was identified yesterday as a much-decorated 28-year-old from Pennsylvania.

Nicolas Checque, of Monroeville, was a member of SEAL Team Six, a US official told CNN.

That was the elite unit that killed Osama bin Laden last year. The official didn’t know whether Checque took part in that operation, CNN said.

The Pentagon said only that Checque, who joined the Navy in 2002, and became a SEAL in 2003, ‘’died of combat-related injuries suffered December 8.”

Among his awards were the Bronze Star and the Iraq Campaign Medal.

He was shot as US Special Forces moved in to rescue Dr. Dilip Joseph, a medical adviser with the Colorado-Springs-based charity Morning Star Development.

Joseph had been abducted by the Taliban last week and the nighttime rescue was mounted after intelligence indicated he was in danger of being harmed or even killed.

Checque’s family declined to comment on his death.

A man who answered the phone at a relative’s home told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “The family has asked that everybody respect their privacy at this time of grief and they do not wish to be contacted.”

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Sunday expressed his sadness at the death of the SEAL, whose name had not yet been released, saying SEALs “knew they were putting their lives on the line to free a fellow American from the enemy’s grip.”

“In this fallen hero, and all of our special operators, Americans see the highest ideals of citizenship, sacrifice and service upheld. The torch of freedom burns brighter because of them,” Panetta said.